A blog about societal, cultural, and civilizational collapse, and how to stave it off or survive it. Named after the legendary character "Crazy Eddie" in Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle's "The Mote in God's Eye." Expect news and views about culture, politics, economics, technology, and science fiction.

Thursday, December 29, 2016

As I wrote yesterday, I'm moving on to videos from August's student presentations. Before I share clips from talks the students liked, I'm posting some of my favorites. The first of these is Evolution of the Whale from Green TV.

In this short animation, produced for primary school children by Green.TV, supported by the Wellcome Trust, we look at the remarkable evolution of the whale from a land-based dog-like animal to the marine mammal that became the world's largest ever creature.

It's a bit too simple for my students, but it's a fun, informative video just the same.

This tsunami footage was recorded on CCTV cameras that were placed along Route 45 in Iwate Prefecture. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) published it in the sped-up form, because the original videos were in very low frame rate.

Both of these videos show that tsunamis are more flood than wave, at least away from the shoreline.

Tuesday, December 27, 2016

The extended Christmas weekend is over, but it's still holiday season, so I'm going to take it easy for the rest of the year and into the new year by resuming where I left off this August with Lionfish: Student Sustainability Video Festival 61. Time for videos from my students' presentations!

Monday, December 26, 2016

I'll make another prediction and say that "Rogue One" will be in tenth at the end of Christmas weekend, passing "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them." While I was right to predict that "Jason Bourne" would not remain in tenth, I was wrong about which movie would knock it out of the top ten. That kind of mistake doesn't bother me; at least I was half-right.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story ended its first week of domestic play with a solid $16.7 million Thursday gross. To wit, that’s a 12% jump from yesterday, and it brings the Walt Disney blockbuster’s week-long cume to $221.9m. That puts it above Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them ($211m) as the 10th-biggest hit of the year in North America. It will presumably be passing Doctor Strange ($227.6m) sometime today for ninth place, but Suicide Squad ($325m) may have to wait until maybe Monday or Tuesday.

It did pass "Doctor Strange" on Saturday, as Box Office Mojo currently has it in ninth. I wasn't optimistic enough about the movie's performance at the box office!

Box office experts knew “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” would remain at the top at the box office, but its dominating margin above other films is something to behold on the holidays. The “Star Wars” prequel starring Felicity Jones and Riz Ahmed is now expected to complete its second weekend with nearly 140 million dollars over the six-day holiday. The Lucasfilm hit should make more than 80 million dollars over Christmas Sunday and on Monday alone. "Rogue One" opened to rave reviews, with an 85 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.

As for the other prediction I made, that it would end up in the top five movies according to domestic box office, Forbes continues to project that still looks good.

It is now inevitable that the Star Wars story will end up being one of the biggest domestic and worldwide hits of the year, joining Finding Dory ($486 million domestic/$1.027 billion worldwide) and Captain America: Civil War ($407m/$1.15b) in the top three or surpassing them in one arena or both. Oh, and along with Zootopia ($341m/1.02b) and The Jungle Book ($364m/$966m), it’ll give Walt Disney all five of the top global blockbusters of the year. Regarding just domestic, Moana and Doctor Strange will give Walt Disney seven of the top 12 biggest hits.

Time to drink to the continuing success of "Rogue One." I have just the drink for the movie, Rogue One Darth Vader Shots by Tipsy Bartender.

PREPARATION:1. Rim a shot glass with corn syrup and black sugar.2. Add grenadine and strawberry liqueur to the shot glass.3. In a mixing glass without ice add black absinthe, black vodka, vodka, tequila, rum, and gin. Stir.4. Layer this black mixture on top of the red layer using a spoon.5. Garnish with a cherry spear.

Stay tuned for three more holiday posts over the weekend. Until then, I'll repeat Keith's closing, "Resist. Peace."

*I originally put the idea of featuring the aluminum pole in the context of a drum corps Festivus. It turned out three drum corps, the Santa Clara Vanguard, Mandarins, and Oregon Crusaders, all used fake trees, either aluminum or fiberglass, in their shows this year. I'll be a good environmentalist and use them for May Day. I don't just recycle; I conserve my resources and reuse them, too.

I should be more appalled at what Perry's policies are likely to do to the environment, but I can't help but laugh at the sheer irony of Perry as Energy Secretary. Given what the rest of Trump's Cabinet of Deplorables looks like, Perry looks relatively reasonable, if in a conventionally awful way.

“Trump confirmed everyone’s fears by scouring the country to find the worst possible choice to head the Environment Protection Energy: Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt,” Meyers said.

As I wrote, a Cabinet of Deplorables. As for Trump himself...

“Trump’s past statements on climate change have not been promising, like his infamous claim that the concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese, as opposed to Trump, who was created by and for the Russians,” Meyers noted.

*I first became acquainted with my ex-wife by telling Aggie jokes. She went to the University of Texas, so she had lots of them. The odd thing is that, other than Perry, all of the Texas A&M alums I've met were nice, intelligent people who didn't deserve the jokes told about them. Perry does, though, so expect me to tell Aggie jokes from now on when I write about him.

This is where we move from orthodox Hegelianism to the quirky alternative I have in mind. It didn’t emerge out of the profound ponderings of serious philosophers of history in some famous European university. It first saw the light in a bowling alley in suburban Los Angeles, and the circumstances of its arrival—which, according to the traditional account, involved the miraculous appearance of a dignified elderly chimpanzee and the theophany of a minor figure from Greek mythology—suggest that prodigious amounts of drugs were probably involved.

Yes, we’re talking about Discordianism.

I’m far from sure how many of my readers are familiar with that phenomenon, which exists somewhere on the ill-defined continuum between deadpan put-on and serious philosophical critique. The short form is that it was cooked up by a couple of young men on the fringes of the California Beat scene right as that was beginning its mutation into the first faint adumbrations of the hippie phenomenon. Its original expression was the Principia Discordia, the scripture (more or less) of a religion (more or less) that worships (more or less) Eris, the Greek goddess of chaos, and its central theme is the absurdity of belief systems that treat orderly schemes cooked up in the human mind as though these exist out there in the bubbling, boiling confusion of actual existence.

While I had orginally planned not to comment on Greer's blog this month, as I hadn't left a response there since Retrotopia: The Only Way Forward in early September, but I couldn't resist the subject matter.

Hail Eris!

Oh, I'm familiar with Discordianism. I'm single-handedly keeping alive a fake holiday called Wester, which is the first Sunday following the first Full Moon after the Autumnal Equinox. When I first posted about it, my Discordian friend claimed it for Discordianism. As far as I'm concerned, it's still a Discordian holiday.

Now, would you like to play catch with this golden apple inscribed with "Kallisti (To the Fairest)? I got it to commemorate The Original Snub.

Greer did play catch with me.

Pinku-Sensei, yes, I thought I remembered you were a closet Discordian. Wester is funny; presumably that was the day that some messiah or other descended from the living?

Toss, catch, toss!

Yes, I do worship Discord in my own way. My time on USENET had that effect on me. It also made me familiar with the Church of the Subgenius. I absorbed their attitude, which is more misanthropic than the Discordians, but not much else of their beliefs.

I'm actually not a Discordian; they're a little too silly for my taste. However, I do like an environment with a certain level of conflict. In those kind of environments, I've found it's more important to have the right enemies than the right friends. If you have the right enemies, the right friends will come to you. Just the same, there is such a thing as too much conflict and discord; it becomes too dangerous and chaotic. That's where the CrazyEddie in me comes out, trying to forestall the decline and collapse.

Gravitational waves, humming gorillas, a new neighbour and more: here are New Scientist's stories of the year.

Science News, Gizmodo, and Newsweek have their own reviews of the top science stories of the year about to end. Every one of them included the discovery of the gravitational waves predicted by Albert Einstein, so it's the top science story of the year by consensus. Planet Nine and Proxima B showed up in three of the four. The remaining stories that showed up in half the lists were human gene editing, a three-parent baby being born, Google's A.I. beating a human Go master, and Zika. No single environmental story showed in more than one list, although two different climate change stories were mentioned in different articles. Also, no one story about fighting aging made more than one list, but several different ones also were mentioned, so I'm giving climate change and anti-aging breakthroughs honorable mentions.

The New York Times had its own science, environment, and health year in review articles, but I found them next to useless. The science summary mentioned none of the above stories, the environmental review was all about climate change, and the health one only mentioned Zika. I suppose that reinforces my awarding climate change an honorable mention and allows me to break the tie among the third place stories in favor of Zika, but that's about it. Still, it's enough to convince me to blog about Zika; today's entry is the first time I've mentioned the disease here.

Tomorrow is the winter (hibernal) solstice. I have something special planned for the occasion. Stay tuned.

Best Television Series – Drama:“The Crown”“Game of Thrones”“Stranger Things”“This Is Us”“Westworld”

"Game of Thrones," "Stranger Things," and "Westworld" also showed up among the Favorite Premium Sci-Fi/Fantasy Series nominees at the People's Choice Awards, and "Stranger Things" was also nominated for Favorite TV Show, so there appears to be critical and popular consensus both on which speculative fiction shows are best, but also that they are among the best shows on television right now. This year may suck in other ways, but it's a great time for fans of speculative fiction on television.

The nominations for the 2017 Golden Globes are out and it’s no surprise that Game Of Thrones is once again up for some big awards. The show landed itself in the Best Television Series – Drama category, while Lena Headey is up for Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Television Series. “Being an HBO guy, I’m thrilled that to see that both GAME OF THRONES and WESTWORLD have been nominated for the big prize… though WESTWORLD is going to be some tough competition.

Sunday, December 18, 2016

I fully expect "Rogue One" to have one of the three biggest opening weekends of the year, right up there with "Captain America: Civil War" and "Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice."

According to Box Office Mojo, that prediction came true as "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" had the third largest opening weekend of the year, right behind the two big superhero movies. Wochit Entertainment's headline on the film's opening is too good to pass up: ‘Rogue One’ Goes Rogue At The Box Office.

Disney’s Lucasfilm prequel “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” easily took first place at the box office during its opening weekend, earning an estimated $155 million domestically — just ahead of expectations. Counting international returns, the hotly anticipated “Star Wars” movie earned $290.5 million globally as it opened in all major territories abroad, except for China and South Korea...Disney dominated the weekend as returning animated hit “Moana” came in second place with $11.7 million.

It’s the 12th-biggest debut weekend of all time, the 17th if you want to play the “adjusted for inflation” game. It’s the third-biggest opening weekend of the year, behind Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice ($166m) and Captain America: Civil War ($179m).

It sits right alongside the likes of The Hunger Games, Spider-Man 3 and Furious 7. But of course, those (and the various Twilight Saga sequels and the last two Dark Knight films that opened in the $138-$160 million range) went out as straight 2D releases. I don’t mean to sound like a grinch. This is a terrific debut weekend and will probably lead to an obscene domestic final....The debut is (obviously) the second biggest opening ever in December, coming in 83% higher than the $84 million debut of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Heck, it almost topped The Desolation of Smaug’s whole debut weekend ($73m) in a single day. If you count it as a prequel to Star Wars, as opposed to a sequel to Revenge of the Sith, it’s the biggest debut ever for a prequel.

That's an impressive roster of films that "Rogue One" has outgrossed in its opening weekend.

The vote's a tough one, but even though I'm not much of a Star Wars fan, it might be interesting to see how well "Rogue One" does since the most toxic elements of the wingnutosphere are calling for a boycott of it. I'm guessing they'll have zero effect.

I made another prediction about "Rogue One" in the comment I quoted to begin this entry.

I also expect it to finish in the top five movies of the year. In fact, if it brings in only half the gross of "The Force Awakens," it would still be the second highest grossing movie released this year, right behind "Finding Dory." I think it might just barely come in first with $600M.

Forbes made a simliar forecast.

If it plays exactly like The Force Awakens from here on out, and this is just "fun with math" at the moment, we’re looking at $584m domestic and $1.135 billion worldwide, which would make it the biggest domestic grosser and second-biggest worldwide grosser (behind Captain America: Civil War's $1.15b) of the year.

Since my predictions are for the domestic (North American) box office and not the global one, it looks like I'm good. As it is, Box Office Mojo lists "Rogue One" as the fifteenth highest grossing movie of the year so far, right behind "X-Men: Apocalypse," which completed its run in July, and it's only the opening weekend. I'll make another prediction and say that "Rogue One" will be in tenth at the end of Christmas weekend, passing "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them." While I was right to predict that "Jason Bourne" would not remain in tenth, I was wrong about which movie would knock it out of the top ten. That kind of mistake doesn't bother me; at least I was half-right.

Enough about "Star Wars" for today. Stay tuned for the speculative fiction nominees at the Golden Globes tomorrow.

Saturday, December 17, 2016

Yesterday, I promised "a weekend of entertainment entries concentrating on awards shows and Star Wars." I'm saving "Star Wars" for tomorrow, when the weekend box office comes out. Today belongs to the GoldenGlobes. Variety has the full list of nominees, from which I'm pulling the categories with speculative fiction contestants, beginning with the movies.

"Deadpool" and Ryan Reynolds won both categories at the Critics' Choice Awards but neither the movie nor the actor were competing directly against "La La Land" and Ryan Gosling in that film at that awards show. Here, they are and so I expect "La La Land" and Gosling will win instead. Reynolds has better odds than "Deadpool," as Reynolds did beat Gosling playing another role as one of the detectives in "The Nice Guys."

Competing against both Gosling and Reynolds is even worse news for Colin Farrell in "The Lobster." Against this field, he doesn't stand a chance.

"Arrival" did not receive a nomination for best Motion Picture - Drama, but it did get recognized in two other categories, tying "Deadpool" for nominations.

Congratulations to "Arrival" for its nominations, but I think those will be as far as it goes at the Golden Globes. I expect the winners from the equivalent categories at the Critics' Choice Awards will repeat themselves, Natalie Portman for Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama and Justin Hurwitz for "La La Land." "Arrival" will have to wait until the Saturn Awards for the recognition it deserves unless Felicity Jones and Michael Giacchino get wins for "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" instead. Given that electorate, which gave Harrison Ford Best Actor over Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon, I wouldn't be surprised if that happened.

I conclude with two categories that usually share nominees.

Best Motion Picture – Animated:
“Kubo and the Two Strings”
“Moana”
“My Life as a Zucchini”
“Sing”
“Zootopia”

Again, I expect repeats of the Critics' Choice Awards, "Zootopia" for Best Motion Picture - Animated and "City of Stars" for Best Original Song - Motion Picture." The dark horse would be "Moana" and either "How Far I'll Go" or "Can't Stop the Feeling," as former tied "Arrival" and "Deadpool" for nominations and the latter also earned a nomination at the Grammy Awards.

That's it for the Golden Globes for today. I'll return with the speculative fiction nominees on television on Monday after reporting on the opening weekend for "Rogue One" tomorrow. Then again, I might reverse the two. Either way, stay tuned.

Friday, December 16, 2016

The average life expectancy in the United States has fallen for the first time in more than two decades.

Researchers blame the drop on a rise in preventable diseases.

Al Jazeera’s Kristen Saloomey has more.

Vox noted that the increased rates of death resulting in lower life expectancy are not the result of one cause in one part of the country.

What complicates the overarching narrative of despair — that a lack of economic prospects is leading people to self-harm and substance abuse — is that it simply can’t apply to the whole country. Different geographic regions are experiencing extreme variations in despair-related outcomes like suicides, drug overdoses, and heart disease, said Abraham Flaxman of the University of Washington, one of the authors of the new JAMA paper.

"If you look at geographic patterns, you can say it’s despair that’s leading people to drink and do drugs. But then why wouldn’t that apply to leading people to overeat and become obese and diabetic? These trends are happening in different places."

To be more specific, today’s cardiovascular disease problems (which are linked to nutrition and obesity) largely plague the South, while the substance abuse and mental health issues are more concentrated in Appalachia, and the rise in self-harm and interpersonal violence is happening in the Southwestern part of the country.

“I think we should be very concerned,” Case told Lenny Bernstein of the Washington Post. “This is singular. This doesn’t happen.” When Case and Deaton released their finding, they argued that it was largely attributable to disturbing upticks in various forms of addiction — opioids, most importantly — as well as suicide. The new statistics get more granular, and they suggest the misery is well-dispersed: There were increases in just about every major cause of death between 2014 and 2015, and the death-rate increases centered on whites and black men — they remained flat for Latinos and for black women. People are dying for a lot of reasons, but drugs stand out as a particularly devastating part of the problem: In fact, one key to the racial divide may also come from numbers released yesterday, these from the CDC: For the first time ever, more people died from heroin overdoses than from gun homicides in 2015.

Both Vox and New York Magazine compared the current increase in mortality to that of post-USSR Russia, but New York Magazine was more colorful.

We don’t know how bad the United States’ burgeoning mortality crisis is going to get. Russia provides a disturbing worst-case scenario. “Sometime in 1993, after several trips to Russia, I noticed something bizarre and disturbing: people kept dying,” wrote Masha Gessen in New York Review of Books in 2014. “I was used to losing friends to AIDS in the United States, but this was different. People in Russia were dying suddenly and violently, and their own friends and colleagues did not find these deaths shocking.” She went on to explain that “In the seventeen years between 1992 and 2009, the Russian population declined by almost seven million people, or nearly 5 percent — a rate of loss unheard of in Europe since World War II. Moreover, much of this appears to be caused by rising mortality,” with alcohol a prime culprit. This is what happens when the insides of a developed country begin to rot.

The United States isn’t Russia. Probably. But wherever this trend goes, what we’re seeing is the end result of decades of slow-burn economic decline and decay, with no end in sight. You can only make it hard for people to work and pay rent and buy necessities and live so long, you can only have them living right on the brink of bad-break ruin for so long, before there will be serious consequences. And we’re seeing those serious consequences in every new set of shocking mortality statistics.

I mention the Russian experience after the fall of the Soviet Union in class regularly as an example of how government and civilization work to increase and maintain carrying capacity and how their decline and fall causes carrying capacity to fall, increasing mortality dramatically. It's right up there with the fall of Rome. I hope I don't have to use the U.S. as an example as well.

Enough DOOM from the real world. Stay tuned for a weekend of entertainment entries concentrating on awards shows and Star Wars!

Al Gore's climate change documentary, "An Inconvenient Truth," is getting a sequel. Paramount Pictures said Friday the follow-up to the Oscar-winning original will premiere at next January's Sundance Film Festival. In a statement, Gore called for a re-dedication to solving what he called the climate crisis and said there are reasons to be hopeful. He met this week with President-elect Donald Trump to discuss the topic and termed the meeting productive. Several days later, Trump picked Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, a climate-change denier, as head of the Environmental Protection Agency.

I just finished showing my students "An Inconvenient Truth" last week. It's a very good movie, and it's holding up better than "The End of Suburbia," which I've really had enough of for reasons beyond the age of the film.* Just the same, it's also getting out of date so I've been looking for a replacement such as "ChasingIce." Maybe I can just wait until the sequel comes out on DVD and show that instead. I know, I'm lazy, but it might just work.

*I've become more and more disenchanted with Kunstler. He's developed a terrible case of "Get off my lawn" over the past couple of years. I'm less inclined to give his ideas a captive audience in my students. I'm also fed up with a lot of his commenters, to the point where I am not posting comments at his blog for the rest of the year. Yeah, that's only two more weeks, but still.

That brain fart ended Perry’s presidential aspirations in 2012. But it wasn’t the end of the story: Donald Trump has reportedly picked Rick Perry to lead the Energy Department, the very agency he once kinda sorta wanted to get rid of. And while it’s not clear that Perry still wants to abolish the DOE, the climate-denying, fossil fuel–loving former governor from Texas is likely to usher in major changes to this key agency.
...
Donald Trump’s transition team, for its part, has generally signaled that it wants to tilt the Energy Department’s focus away from renewables and back toward programs that support oil and gas drilling (and possibly nuclear power). And Rick Perry — an inveterate climate denier who was governor for 15 years of one of America’s most important oil and gas states — is a natural fit to do just that.

I should be more appalled at what Perry's policies are likely to do to the environment, but I can't help but laugh at the sheer irony of Perry as Energy Secretary. Given what the rest of Trump's Cabinet of Deplorables looks like, Perry looks relatively reasonable, if in a conventionally awful way. Besides, Ex-Governor Goodhair is a good stuck clock, so he's right twice a day. After all, he said this about his boss-to-be.

And this:

He's still right about both things he said about Trump. I just hope he remembers them. I will.

Evan Rachel Wood accepts the award for Best Actress in a Drama Series for her work on "Westworld," presented by Ty Burrell, at the 22nd Annual Critics' Choice Awards (December 2016).

When Wood mentioned the other actresses in the category show won, she meant it. That was an impressive field that included Viola Davis and Tatiana Maslany, the past two Emmy winners in this category, and Caitriona Balfe, the defending Favorite Sci-Fi/Fantasy Actress at the People's Choice Awards. Thandie Newton's accomplishment was no mean feat, as she beat two actresses from "Game of Thrones" along with the rest of a talented field. I'm just as impressed.

Kristian Nairn accepts the award for Best Drama Series on behalf of the cast and crew of "Game of Thrones," presented by Kaley Cuoco, at the 22nd Annual Critics' Choice Awards (December 2016).

Yes, he's the DJ, and true to form, he didn't say anything.

As for Jeffrey Dean Morgan, who plays Negan on "The Walking Dead," he won Best Guest Performer in a Drama Series. This is only the second Critics' Choice Award the show has won and the first voted on by the critics. The other was Most Bingeworthy two years ago, which was voted on by the fans and not awarded this year. Congratulations to the actor playing the character I love to hate. Just for that, here's Norman Reedus on the red carpet.

That completes the report on this year's winners. Stay tuned for reports on the Golden Globe nominees, a sequel to "An Inconvenient Truth," and the opening weekend of "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story," along with brief excursions to reality.

Simon Kinberg and Ryan Reynolds accepts the award for Best Comedy on behalf of the cast and crew of "Deadpool," presented by Jim Parsons, at the 22nd Annual Critics' Choice Awards (December 2016).

That was better than I expected for "Deadpool," as I made no predictions about the movie's chances last week. The best I can say was that I expected "Hacksaw Ridge" to win Best Action Movie, which it did. Just the same, congratulations to "Deadpool" and Ryan Reynolds. Everyone drink in their honor!

Follow over the jump for the rest of the winners in speculative fiction on both the big and small screens.

Sunday, December 11, 2016

Should I blog about the opening weekend of "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story," the speculative fiction nominees for the Writers Guild of America Awards, or the politics and crime nominees for the Critics' Choice Awards?

I got one vote on Facebook for the Writers Guild Awards and another at yesterday's entry for "Rogue One," so I cast the tie-breaker for "Rogue One." I did so even though it's not really the opening weekend; that starts this Friday. However, the movie did have its Hollywood premiere last night, as Wochit Entertainment reports in What Are The First Reactions To Rogue One?

Stars and fans who were lucky enough to see Rogue One: A Star Wars Story took to Twitter right after the premiere let out in Hollywood on Saturday night to share their thoughts. I can't wait… https://t.co/CDs0CgmsnQ — Dane Cook (@DaneCook) December 11, 2016 So much cheering during the movie. Audience loved it pic.twitter.com/WvLgW7OQWJ — Aaron Couch (@AaronCouch) December 11, 2016 ROGUE ONE WAS AMAZING #StarWarsRogueOne — Veronica Merrell (@veronicamerrell) December 11, 2016 I FREAKIN LOVE STAR WARS OMG ROGUE ONE WAS AMAZING — Vanessa Merrell (@VanessaMerrell) December 11, 2016 ROGUE ONE = excellent.

With a new band of rebels and a high-stakes journey, "Star Wars" ushered in a new chapter on Saturday by bringing a galaxy far, far away to the heart of Hollywood for the "Rogue One" premiere. Directed by Gareth Edwards, "Rogue One" is the first standalone film in Disney's "Star Wars" reboot. But for the sake of 'Star Wars', I was prepared to do it," she said. The movie explores the journey preceding the events that launched George Lucas' intergalactic saga with 1977's "Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope". The diverse cast boasts Mexican actor Luna, British-Pakistani actor Ahmed, Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen and Chinese actors Donnie Yen and Wen Jiang.

[Director Gareth] Edwards says the biggest risk he took was creating realistic battle scenes that took the audience right into the trenches as the Rebels and Imperial forces tussle, whether in the streets of Jedha City or the tropical shores of the planet Scarif.

The result is a more brutal and grittier Star Wars movie than seen before, says Ben Mendelsohn, who stars as the villainous Imperial officer Director Orson Krennic. “It really is a muscular, tough film.”

When developing Rogue One, Edwards took old World War II photography and Photoshopped Rebel helmets on soldiers’ heads. When passersby would check out the artwork in the Lucasfilm offices, their reactions were all the same, Edwards says: “That looks amazing. I want to see that film.”

So he threw his actors right into battle, including filming in extreme heat in the Maldives for one of the Rebellion's more epic showdowns with the Empire.

When The Walt Disney Company purchased Lucasfilm back in October 2012, it was quick to announce not one, but two series of Star Wars films: The expected sequel trilogy, consisting of Episode VII: The Force Awakens and two follow-ups, and the unexpected “anthology” films, of which this month’s Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is the first. That means audiences will be getting one new movie a year up until 2020. Or, at least, it would’ve meant that, if director Josh Trank hadn’t been fired and his proposed spinoff, a Boba Fett anthology story, hadn’t been shelved.

This is exactly what I hoped and expected would happen, given how Disney puts out at least one Marvel film a year.

I fully expect one or both songs to be nominated at the Golden Globes and Academy Awards. I wouldn't be surprised if other songs from "Suicide Squad" are also nominated. The movie probably has the best compilation song soundtrack of any live-action movie this year.

It's too early to test either prediction, as the Golden Globes nominations come out next Monday and the Oscars not until next year, but the Emmy Awards nominations made my prognostication look good as "Heathens" earned three nominations, another song from "Suicide Squad" got another nomination, and the compilation album earned a fifth. Here are the relevant categories from Billboard.

I may still be right about the movie having the best compilation of songs of any film released this year, as the only other film released this year whose soundtrack was nominated was "Miles Ahead" ("Vinyl" was from a TV show on HBO that was canceled). The rest were from movies released last year. However, I am not optimistic about its chances in this field, as "Suicide Squad" is the only movie nominated that is not about the music business. It's the musicians voting for this award and they might just go for "Amy," which won Best Feature Length Documentary at the Oscars and Best Music Film at the Grammy Awards last year, or "Straight Outta Compton."

This is only one of three nominations for "Heathens," the others being Best Rock Performance and Best Rock Song. I'd say it's the favorite, as the other songs were only nominated in this category.

"Heathens" is joined by my second favorite song from the movie, "Purple Lamborghini," which features Jared Leto as the Joker. He looks like he came right out of "Batman: The Animated Series." That's appropriate, as that's where Harley Quinn got her start.

The official video for Skrillex & Rick Ross - "Purple Lamborghini"
Featured in "Suicide Squad" movie & official soundtrack

Three other speculative fiction movies have songs in this field, "Alice Through the Looking Glass," "Trolls," and "Zootopia," along with a song from the political documentary "Snowden." Based on the movies alone, this is a great field. Speaking of which...

Four of these are for films released last year, one of which, Ennio Morricone's for "The Hateful Eight," has already won the Golden Globe and Academy Award for Best Original Score. Personally, I'd prefer John Williams' score for "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" to win, but I'm not optimistic. Personally, I think the odd nominees out have a better chance, the two CDs for "Stranger Things." I've seen song compilation albums from TV shows nominated before, but I can't remember if the score for a TV show ever has been. That by itself is quite an accomplishment. Since I've already written that this is the year for "Stranger Things," I wouldn't be surprised if it pulled off an upset.

I fully expect both the theme song and the opening title sequence to be nominated for an Emmy. I also expect it to be competing in both categories against "Westworld." Be patient about those predictions coming true, as the nominations won't come out until June.

As for the subject of tomorrow's entry, it's time for another vote. Should I blog about the opening weekend of "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story," the speculative fiction nominees for the Writers Guild of America Awards, or the politics and crime nominees for the Critics' Choice Awards? Leave your vote in the comments below at this blog or at this blog's Facebook page. I also accept write-in votes, but only for entertainment topics. Hurry, as I'll close nominations at Noon EST Sunday the 11th.

Friday, December 9, 2016

[T]omorrow's post looks like it won't be any of the ones I suggested. Instead, it will be a video tribute to John Glenn. While I post a lot about politics and entertainment lately, this was originally a science, technology, and environment blog and one of the recurring topics has been space exploration and the fear that it might go away. Senator Glenn's death fits right into those themes.

John Glenn, the first American astronaut to orbit the earth and a legendary figure in the American space flight program, has died, the Ohio governor has said. He was 95. Glenn was one of America's first and most celebrated astronauts and had a long public career that included two space flights, 24 years as a U.S. Senator from Ohio, and a run for the presidency. He was born July 18, 1921. Glenn will go down in history as the first American to orbit the earth, one of the original seven Mercury astronauts. On Feb. 20, 1962, he climbed into his Friendship 7 capsule, lifted off from Cape Canaveral in Florida, circled the earth three times in five hours -- and became a national hero.

But attorneys for Stein argued the recount must continue, stressing that thus far it has shown numerous voting problems across the state, particularly in Detroit, where more than half of the precincts' ballots cannot be recounted due to problems that have not been disclosed. They also argued that Stein is an aggrieved party if she participated in an election that was plagued with mistakes or fraud. And the voters of Michigan have a right to know that, too, they said.

"There is no way of knowing whether fraud occurred without conducting the recount," Stein's attorney, Hayley Horowitz, told Goldsmith during the hearing, arguing it is "way to early" to know if fraud was an issue.

After the hearing, Stein told the Detroit Free Press that so far, the recount appears to be exposing problems with Michigan's election process, particularly in low-income, minority communities.

"It is revealing some really troubling aspects of how elections are run here," Horowitz said of the recount. "We think that's part of the reason the recount should continue — to continue revealing those problems so that the people of Michigan can see how their election operates."

Clinton’s vote total increased by 138 in Ingham County, while Trump gained 73 more votes than were recorded on Election Night, according to the county’s recount report.

Jill Stein, the Green Party candidate who requested Michigan’s statewide recount, lost two votes in Ingham County in the recount. Libertarian Gary Johnson gained two votes, according to the report.

Only 23 of 208 precincts in Ingham County were not recountable. Meanwhile, Oakland County also finished its recount of Election Day ballots and was working its way through absentee ballots when the order to stop came down. It found only 26 of 520 precincts not recountable. Both of those are more acceptable than potentially one-third of Wayne County's precincts. As I wrote, both Barb Byrum, Ingham County Clerk, and Lisa Brown, Oakland County Clerk, run tight ships, and I'd support either one for Secretary of State in 2018, especially over Janice Winfrey, the Detroit City Clerk, and Cathy M. Garrett, the Wayne County Clerk.

Regular programming resumes tomorrow. I might have something on the Michigan Legislature's lame duck session, Al Gore meeting with Donald Trump about climate change, or I might start writing about entertainment awards early. It depends on how I feel and what material is available. Stay tuned.

That a third of precincts in Detroit may be ineligible for a recount is not good news for anyone having their hopes up that this recount will change the result of the election. If anything, Trump's lead may increase because of it. It also makes me even less enamored of both Janice Winfrey, the Detroit City Clerk, and Cathy M. Garrett, the Wayne County Clerk. Neither one of them appears to be running a tight ship, or otherwise these kinds of irregularities would happen so frequently. If either ever is up for nomination at a Michigan Democratic Convention for Secretary of State, I'm not voting for them and might just see if I could join a group to recruit another candidate. Barb Byrum in Ingham County or Lisa Brown in Oakland County, the first two counties to participate in the recount, would be my choices.

As for the hearing in Lansing and the appeal to the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, stay tuned. This party might end prematurely.

A federal judge early Monday morning ordered a recount of Michigan's presidential ballots to begin at noon on Monday, and for the state to "assemble necessary staff to work sufficient hours" to complete the recount by a Dec. 13 federal deadline.

Lawyers for Green Party candidate Jill Stein urged the action in an emergency request, and U.S. District Judge Mark Goldsmith held a rare Sunday hearing in federal court. It lasted three hours, and Goldsmith issued a written opinion just after midnight Monday morning.

Goldsmith said a state law requiring a two-business-day waiting period to start the recount probably violates voting rights. Stein has shown "a credible threat that the recount, if delayed, would not be completed" by Dec. 13 — the federal "safe harbor" deadline to guarantee Michigan's electoral votes are counted when the electoral college meets Dec. 19.

"With the perceived integrity of the presidential election as it was conducted in Michigan at stake, concerns with cost pale in comparison," Goldsmith said in his opinion.

In ordering the recount to begin at noon Monday, rather than Wednesday morning under the two-day waiting period the state planned to observe, Goldsmith ordered the recount, once started, "must continue until further order of this court."

I have two reactions to this news. First, it makes me more optimistic that Stein moving her legal efforts in the Pennsylvania recount to federal court might work. Newsy reports on this part of the story.

The campaign said the state court system is "ill-equipped to address this problem."

I'd say the favorite in this group is "Arrival." Not only was it nominated in this category, it was nominated in nine others, including Best Picture, Best Actress (Amy Adams), Best Director (Denis Villeneuve), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Production Design, Best Editing, Best Visual Effects, and Best Score (Jóhann Jóhannsson). If a picture is nominated in a genre category and it's also the only also nominated for Best Picture, that's a clear sign the critics love it. However, it probably won't win Best Picture, as it tied with "Moonlight" and has two nominations fewer than "La La Land." One of those two, probably "Moonlight," will likely walk away with the trophy next Sunday.

As for the second most nominated movie in Sci-Fi/Horror, it was also the second most nominated movie in the next category.

Yes, "Doctor Strange" received double nominations for Sci-Fi/Horror and Action. It also earned consideration in four other categories, Best Actor In An Action Movie (Benedict Cumberbatch), Best Actress In An Action Movie (Tilda Swinton), Best Hair & Makeup, and Best Visual Effects. While it may not be my favorite in this category (that's "Deadpool"), it's the superhero movie the critics most enjoyed. Unfortunately, it won't be the nominee most likely to win. That honor will probably go to "Hacksaw Ridge," which was nominated for seven awards including Best Picture, Best Actor, and Best Actor in an Action Movie for Andrew Garfield. "Doctor Strange" and Benedict Cumberbach won't be able to beat that.

Speaking of "Deadpool," both the film and its star Ryan Reynolds were double nominated in both Action and Comedy for a total of four nominations. Not even "Central Intelligence" and Dwayne Johnson could pull that feat off, earning one nomination each in Comedy.

Follow over the jump for more speculative fiction films among the Critics' Choice Awards nominees.

Unlike Teen ChoiceAwards and the People's ChoiceAwards, the Critics' Choice Television Awards don't recognize speculative fiction shows separately from other scripted shows (the movie awards do, but that's a story for next time), instead considering them as either drama or comedy. Usually, that means fewer of them are recognized and they have stiffer competition. That written, this year's crop of speculative fiction shows did well with the critics, as evidenced by the drama nominees.

Three of the Premium Sci-Fi/Fantasy nominees from the People Choice Awards, "Game of Thrones," "Stranger Things," and "Westworld," showed up here, too. So did the "sci-fi adjacent" "Mr. Robot, which was nominated for Favorite (Basic) Cable TV Drama at the People's Choice Awards. All of those prove that quality shows can be popular and critics will recognize popular favorites. All that would be needed to make me really happy would be if "Outlander" were included. While the Showtime series didn't get recognized in this category, it did in the next two. Follow over the jump.

Michigan's Board of State Canvassers deadlocked 2-2, along party lines, Friday, on President-elect Donald Trump's objection to Green Party candidate Jill Stein's request for a recount of all presidential ballots cast in Michigan.

State election officials said earlier that a tie vote would mean a hand recount of all of the roughly 4.8 million ballots would proceed. But lawyers for Trump have asked the board for a stay of its decision, and the board has not ruled on that request. The board was also still deliberating Friday on whether a hand recount should be conducted, as requested by Stein, or a machine recount, recommended by Secretary of State Ruth Johnson, who said it would peed the process, save money, and reduce the chance for error.

A recount can't start until Tuesday at the earliest, and Friday's court challenge filed by Attorney General Bill Schuette puts even that start date in doubt.

But the Michigan Board of State Canvassers declared a one-hour recess just as the 9:30 a.m. meeting began, as news broke that Attorney General Bill Schuette had filed a lawsuit asking the Michigan Supreme Court to halt the recount before it began. Shortly before 10:30 a.m., the board voted to go into closed session to consider the Schuette legal action.